http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12474#215651

sarnian, the conservatives only added to the globalisation process which was started by the closet communist comrades Whitlam, Hawke & Keating.

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12474#215686

imajulianutter, if we were to repatriate all capital invested overseas we would probably have little or no need for foreign investment here.

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12474#215687

again, not a bad idea but sounds like another type of tarriff barrier &/or ANTI dumping laws, easier to just go back to a protectionist economy & be done with it.

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12474#215689

individual, getting their, but we need to have national service for our military as well & any move towards a simpler taxation system is good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umEGHYLZryk have you seen this one? individual?

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12474#215693

Antiseptic, spot on, although i prefer "jobs for the girls".

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12474#215701

Neutral, both major mistakes parties are in decline but so is ALL left wing politics, bear in mind that the LNP is also Coca Cola Communism.

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12474#215707

sarnian, again a good idea but we would be better off reducing all mining exports, building up all manufacturing, looking after ourselves.

*The kind of economy described as being desirable is exactly what we had between 1945 & 1965. Before it was destroyed on the altar of "economic rationalism".*

Ah, the good old days eh, Formersnag. As Australia rode on the sheeps
back and eventually rode it into the ground, until the whole frigging
lot collapsed. Meantime efficient exporters had to buy crappy,
overpriced inputs, as the Melbourne industrial club got rich on
the fat of tariff protection. Consumers got screwed all the way
of course.

Lets see. We could tax all computers, mobile phones, Ipads with
100% tariff protection tomorrow. Why would consumers be better off
paying twice as much?
How would that make our present export industries more efficient?

You forget completely that manufacturing has changed dramatically.
The very nature of more complex technology means much larger, more
expensive, more automated manufacturing. You can't make computer
chips or LCD screens out in the back shed, it takes billions. For
that kind of investment, you need those plants to run 24/7, which
our small population can't justify.

Somehow I doubt if the womenfolk would return to the sewing machines
to sew your clothes. They want cushy jobs these days. Then of
course the poor could never afford to buy them.

You really need to think this through a bit better, Formersnag.

Yabby,
"Consumers got screwed all the way of course."

Did they really?

When a single income could raise a family, pay off a house, and allow the husband and wife to retire at 65 (or the wife retire earlier).

Objective analysis of globalisation could very well show that the rich have gotten richer, while the rest have seen an increasing gap.

Good article, but perhaps a little too late.

The Labor party has a history of spending big, to eventually leave the Liberal party the job of refilling the coffers.

*When a single income could raise a family, pay off a house, and allow the husband and wife to retire at 65 (or the wife retire earlier)*.

It still does that, in many country towns and where people have
lower expectations.

Don't blame globalisation for city house prices. Don't blame
globalisation on the fact that people live in houses twice as
big as they used to. Don't blame globalistation that women spend
300 million$ a year on Botox, that people want to travel overseas,
etc.

What has changed is peoples expectations. What has changed is that
many women prefer to have their own income, so are less dependant
on hubby. That might not suit some men, for it takes away some of
their power, but it sure suits plenty of women.

Back in the "good old days", it was a 13 square 3 by 1 fibro,
with a Holden out the front. A new dress was a big deal or mum
made it on the sewing machine. Going out to dinner was a big deal,
watching no 96 on the telly was the highlight of their day. And yes,
Australian consumer products were crappy and overpriced, as they
lacked competition.

You people have short memories

We don't have short memories. We just don't automatically buy that consumerism is all there is to life.

Yabby,
Houses were normally on 32 perch or more, and often the family had 3 or more children, so houses were not that small.

Many people also had a holiday home, but I would agree that life was less hectic, and day care centres and family law solicitors were not very common at all.

Globalisation has done nothing for the majority in the US, but has improve the bank accounts of a few in Wall Street.

The same for Australia I would think.